Pipe end and joint



0a. 19, 1948. A L R 2,451,587

PIPE END AND JOINT Filed May 7, 1945 fi( 'g. z-

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IN V EN TOR.

Edward/hazy Patented @ct. 19, 194-8 UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE TaylorForge & poration of lllinois Pipe Works, Cicero, 111., a cor-Aipplication May '7, 1945, Serial No. 592,412

3 Claims.

This invention relates to pipe ends and joints, and has to do with apipe end assembly for joining the ends of pipes and with a pipe jointresulting from the use of such assembly.

Steel pipe is kept in stock in various parts of the country so as to bereadily available as re quired. Much of this stock is in standard pipesizes of substantially uniform wall thickness, usually materiallygreater than one-eighth of an inch and, in pipe of the larger diameters,one quarter of an inch or more. It is difiicult and, in fact, may beconsidered as practically impossible, to obtain proper penetration suchas to assure an efficient and reliable weld, when Welding together pipehaving a wall thickness niaterially greater than one-eighth of an inch,unless the pipe ends are so formed as to be directly exposed for theirfull wall thickness to the flame of the welding torch or the arc of thewelding rod. For that reason, in welding together the ends of standardpipe lengths, the pipe ends are beveled to provide a welding troughextending the full Wall thickness of the pipe ends, or substantially so.In cases where the pipe ends are to be secured together by a clamp typeof joint, they are provided in their outer surfaces with circumferentialgrooves which receive the of a split clamping ring bolted in positionabout the pipe ends. This split ring contains a hollow sealing ring ofrubber or like material, open at its inner side and having flexible lipsfitting tightly about the pipe ends at the end surfaces thereof, thepressure fluid entering the sealing ring from within the pipe andserving to maintain a fluid tight seal between the latter and the lipsof the sealing ring. The clamp type of joint referred to is known as thevictaulic joint is disclosed in the Tribe Patent No. 1,541,601. In thevictaulic joint it is of importance that the lips of the sealing ring bedisposed at or closely adjacent the end surfaces of the pipe ends, inorder to assure a tight seal while avoiding necessity of using anexcessively heavy and cuinbersome clamping ring. t is not feasible tobevel the ends of pipe lengths intended for use with the victauliccoupling, and it is and has been the practice to keep in stock standardpipe lengths with beveled ends, for use in lines of piping eniployingwelded joints, and standard lengths of pipe with unbeveled or squareends and with circumferential grooves in their outer faces, for use inlines of piping employing the victaulic type of joints. A practicalresult is that the pipe manufacturers and dealers are under thenecessity of keeping on hand duplicate stocks of pipe, which isobjectionable for obvious reasons. A further objection to the presentpractice referred to is that the standard pipe lengths frequently are ofunnecessarily great Wall thickness, in order that the end portionsthereof may be grooved for reception of the arms of a clamp ring of aclamp type of joint, as above, which necessitates using in a standardpipe length an amount of metal greatly in excess of that actuallyrequired withstand the internal pressure and stresses to which the pipeis subjected, in addition to necessitating beveling of the ends of thepipe lengths if they are to be welded together, as above described. Witha View to avoiding the use of excess metal in a pipe length, it has beenproposed to form the major portion of the pipe length of thin metal andto Weld to each end thereof a thick walled end fitting or ring which maybe grooved exteriorly for use in a type of joint, may be exteriorlythreaded for 1 W in a screw type of joint, or may be beveled its outerend and then used in a welded joint. A pipe length which has a thin wallfor substs tially its full extent, and is provided with re tively thickend fittings or rings, of the type just referred to, is disclosed in theNaylor Patent I o. 1,943,035. The objection to that pipe length that ifthe end fitting or ring is externally groove-o; for use in a clamp typeof joint, it cannot be used in a welded joint, and vice versa.Accordingly, with the exception that the pipe length is thin walled,except for the relatively thick walled end rings or fittings, the lastdescribed pipe leng. are open to the same objections as the standardpipe lengths.

My invention is directed to the prov on of pipe lengths and associatedend niein s of such character that the same type of pipe gths may besecured together either by a welded joint or by a clamp type of joint,and the objections above noted to the present known type of pipe leng'above referred to, are avoided. To that end, provide pipe lengths havingend 12s of $1 cient wall thickness to have formed grooves for receptionof the arms of cl ring of a clamp type of joint, the end sur suchportions being unbeveled and sub. normal to the axis of the pipe length,and the areas of such portions being sulhc- -tly reduced in Wallthickness so as to be readily weldable in manner to provide a highlyefficient welded joir t. More specifically, I provide the pipe lengthsv. end fittings of considerable wall thickness hav formed thereincircumferential grooves adapted for reception of the arms of a clampingring, each of the fittings having an inner circumferential recessextending from its inner end, with reference to the joint, theserecesses providing a channel for reception of a ring seating thereineffective for spacing the inner ends of the fittings a predetermineddistance apart, suitable for welding thereof together and to the ring,which when the joint is welded constitutes a chill ring. When a clamptype of joint is used, the ring seating in the recesses in the fittingsaccurately spaces the latter, also accurately spacing the grooves in thefittings, which facilitates mounting of the clamping ring on thefittings, thereby facilitating assembly of the joint. My invention isparticularly suitable for use with thin walled pipe, rendering itpossible to secure lengths of such pipe together by either a weldedjoint or a clamp typev oiijoint,

and I shall, therefore, disclose it as applied to thin walled pipe.Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear from thedetail description.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a side View of a pipe joint assembly embodying my invention,as it appears prior to the welding operation;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 2-2 of Figure1;

Figure 3 is a sectional View on the order of Figure 2, of the upperportion of the joint after completion of the welding operation, on anen-- larged scale; and

Figure 4 is a lengthwise sectional view of the upper portion of a clamptype of joint embodying the pipe lengths and end fittings of myinvention.

I have shown my invention, by way of illustration, as embodied in ajoint comprising two pipe lengths 5 of relatively slight or thin wallthickness, disposed in endwise relation with an annular end ring orfitting 5 of materially greater wall thickness than pipe length 5,welded to the end of the latter at I. It may be assumed that the wallthickness of the pipe length 5 is less than one-eighth of an inch andthe wall thickness of the fitting t is not less than one-quarter of aninch, in order to provide for a circumferential groove 8 of appreciabledepth formed in fitting 6. Each of the fittings 6 is further provided,in its inner face, with a circumferential recess 9 extending from itsinner end, with reference to the 7 joint to be formed. When the fittings6 are disposed in endwise juxtaposition, the recesses 9 tings 6, theends of the fittings and the area of the ring underlying space H aredirectly exposed to the arc during the welding operation and the endportions of areas 9 as well as the underlying area of ring Ill, arereadily fused and welded together, the parts being then united by a weldl2 and the space between the ends of the fittings 6 being filled withwelded in metal. That renders it possible to secure the thin walled pipelengths together by a highly efiicient welded joint, with expedition andfacility and without necessity for beveling the ends of the end fittings6.

If desired, the pipe lengths ma be secured together by a clamp type ofjoint instead of by welding. Referring to Figure 4, the grooves 8 offitting 6 receive the arms of a channel clamp ring l3 which is formed insections bolted together about the fittings, in a known manner. Withinthe clamp ring Hi there is a sealing ring M, formed of rubber or othersuitable material and of hollow construction, this ring M havingflexible lips l5 which seat upon the outer faces of areas 9 of thefittings 5, these lips extending to the inner ends of the fittings, orsubstantially so.

In that connection, the lips it should have adeprovide, in efiect, achannel which receives a ring l9 seating therein. This ring is of suchwidth that it spaces the inner ends of the fittings 5 apart a suitabledistance, approximately onesixteenth of an inch, providing an annularspace i i therebetween well suited to the welding operation, if the pipelengths are to be secured together by a welded joint. It will beunderstood, of course, that each of the pipe lengths includes the thinwalled length or portion 5 and the fittings 6 welded to the endsthereof. After the parts have been assembled as above, the ends of thefittings 6 are secured together and to the rings 56 by welding,preferably by arc, welding with a welding rod. In that connection, itwill be noted that the recess 9 is of considerable depth radially, sothat the portion 9 of fitting 6 corresponding to recess 9 has a wallthickness of about oneeighth of an inch, which is readily penetrated bythe arc and which, for that reason, I term a welding thickness. Byreducing the wall thickness of areas 9* of fitting 6, in the mannerstated, and providing the space. H between the ends of fitquate sealingarea on the fitting and the ends of the latter should not be beveled toany appreciable extent, since that would reduce the area .of contactbetween lips l5 and the fittings and the victaulic joint and thepressure within sealing ring [4, by the pressure fluid entering thatring through space E E, is relied upon to maintain the seal. It will benoted that the ring it spaces the inner ends of the fittings 6 adefinite and predetermined distance apart, assuring a passagetherebetween for flow of the pressure fluid into the sealing ring i l,which contributes to maintaining the joint fluid tight, avoidinglikelihood of the fittings 6 being moved into tight endwise abuttingcontact in the operation of inserting them into sealing rin it, such asmay occur where the ring H} or equivalent spacing means is not provided.That assures that the grooves 3 are properly spaced for reception of thearms of the clamping rings 53, which facilitates assembly of the joint.

It will be seen that by providing pipe lengths with end portions orfittings in accordance with m invention, I render it possible to securethe same type of pipe lengths together by either a welded joint or a.clamp type of joint and, in particular, render it possible to securetogether lengths of thin walled pipe by a joint of either of the twotypes referred to, as desired. Since pipe lengths embodying my inventionare suitable for securing together by either welded joints or clamp typejoints, my invention avoids the necessity of pipe manufacturers anddealers keeping on hand stocks ofpipe lengths of the two different typesof joints referred to, thus greatly reducing the inventory of pipelengths which, in itself, is a practical advantage of considerable meritin addition to the advantages above referred to.

I claim:

1. A pipe end member for joining endwise to another similar member, saidend member bein of a wall thickness materially greater than weldingthickness for the major portion of its length and having an interiorcircumferential recess extending from its inner end and an exteriorcircumferential groove disposed a substantial distance outward beyondsaid recess, the inner end portion of said member corresponding to saidrecess being of welding wall thickness.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a pipe end fitting of a wallthickness materially greater than Welding thickness for the majorportion of its length and having an interior circumferential recessextending from its inner end and an exterior circumferential groovedisposed a substantial distance outward beyond said recess, the innerend of said fitting being substantially straight radially thereof andthe inner end portion of said fitting corresponding to said recess beingof welding wall thickness.

3. In an assembly for forming a victaulic pipe joint and a welded pipejoint optionally, two pipe lengths of welding wall thickness, two endfittings welded to the inner ends of said pipe lengths With their innerends juxtaposed, each of said fittings being of a wall thicknessmaterially greater than welding thickness for the major portion of itslength and having an interior circumferential recess extending from itsinner end,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Burns Aug. 7, 1917 Flynn Oct. 30, 1934FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain July 30, 1931 Great BritainJune 27, 1928 Number Number

